Should a Doctor Apologize for Malpractice?

In searching for something else last night, I stumbled onto an article by Richard W. Bourne, a University of Baltimore Law School professor, published last year in the Arkansas Law Review that articulates the theory that there should be a process tort, even in the absence of injury, when a doctor fails to disclose to the patient that he or she has committed medical malpractice. I started to blog on this and then I found my own blog post from last year. In 16 months I had completely forgotten I had already read the article.

A new article titled, The Flaws in State ‘Apology’ and ‘Disclosure’ Laws Dilute Their Intended Impact on Malpractice Suits, there is also interesting commentary on disclosure and apology laws that exist in most states which the authors believe may do more harm than good. The take home message: it is hard to make a fair law and still give doctors reasonable expectations of what will and will not be used against them.